but you've got to be committed to some kind of real deficit reduction. and that's where, beyond the spending, being serious about entitlements, there's got to at least be some framework that says, look, we are going to reduce the size and the scope of government. and that's -- finding that pain point on both sides so it's not a lopsided deal will at least give republicans the room to argue, look, we can take this pain. we've won some concessions back, but we have to do this. >> that should be done in private and together. >> and again, though, the ratio between tax increases to spending cuts is a wide, wide gap. medicare and medicaid and social security together, taken with interest and the debt, that's consuming every dime that's coming into washington, d.c., right now. people talk about -- democrats have talked about for a decade, the bush tax cuts. they've driven up the national debt. fine. if that's the case, why is it that the president, as you've said earlier, is embracing 98% of the bush tax cuts? >> except that isn't true. >> of course it's not t